“Tom Murphy is not a criminal. He’s a good republican. I read his statement after the Manchester raids. I believe what he says. He’s also, and very importantly, a key supporter of the Sinn Féin peace strategy and has been for a very long time.”

Additionally, when asked, by RTÉ’s Tommie Gorman, whether he believes Murphy’s denial of membership of the IRA Army Council, Adams said –

“If he denies being a member of the IRA, then I have to accept that.”

Further Update A longer report of Adams’ comments on RTÉ radio[RealPlayer audio file] in which he criticises the “snide coverage” as well as the manner, of the co-ordinated raids and, interestingly, while disparaging the reports of Thomas Murphy as a “super duper gang leader”, or a godfather figure, and disparaging the reports of individuals exploiting republicans, acknowledges that there are greedy people on all sides.